Mamata demands withdrawal of govt notification on Singur

Kolkata, Sep 21 (UNI) All India Trinamool Congress(AITC) supremo Mamata Banerjee today cautioned the West Bengal government against issuing notification for the acquisition of farm land at Singur to the Tatas at throwaway prices.

Speaking to newsmen after holding an hour long meeting and submitting a memorandum to Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi at the Raj Bhavan here this evening, Ms Banerjee lambasted the state government for issuing the notification without considering the well-being of several thousand small farmers, and demanded its immediate withdrawal.

Leading a delegation of eleven opposition parties including the AITC, the Congress, Janata Dal(United), Samajwadi Party and CPI-ML among others, Ms Banerjee alleged that in the name of industrial rejuvination programme the state government had '' embarked on a mere real estate promoting business and was giving away multiple crop land to the promoters at throwaway prices''.

She further alleged that the government under the leadership of Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee was trying to mislead the common people in the name of fake industrialisation and urged them to desist from such a move.

'' Though a lot is being said about a suitable rehabilitation package for the affected farmers, in actual terms nothing would be handed over to them,'' she said and warned that the whole opposition would start a statewide agitation even in the midst of the coming festive season if their demands were not met.

''If the government does not pay any heed to our demand we would launch a statewide agitation,'' Ms Banerjee, accompanied by Congress leader Abdul Mannan and others, said.

Incidentally, the presence of Congress leaders and the absence of BJP in today's delegation also signified a major shift in the political equation of the state politics with Ms Banerjee increasingly tilting towards the Congress following her party's victory in Bongaon assembly seat with the former's help.

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